Chickasaw County law enforcement investigating Woodland homicide

WOODLAND – The Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a domestic dispute that apparently turned into a homicide about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

Authorities were called to an accident on Highway 15 south of Houston and found a black male deceased and have taken a black female into custody. Investigators are not releasing the names of the victim or the suspect pending notification of next of kin.

“The wreck was reported to us at 7:32 p.m. and our investigation has led us to investigate it as a homicide,” said Jame Myers, Chief Deputy with the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Department. “We believe this began as a domestic dispute, escalated into an assault.

“As they were driving down the highway the car left the road and the victim was dead when we arrived on the scene,” said Myers. “We really can’t release a lot at this time as we are still putting this all together.”

Myers did say they have a “person of interest” in custody. No formal charges have been filed at this time.

This is the third homicide in Chickasaw County since January.

Will Porter, 28, was charged in February with murder in connection to the stabbing death of his wife, Amanda Porter, 23, at their home

Authorities were initially called to a report of a car on fire near Pumphrey’s Grocery about 5:30 a.m., and their investigation led to a home at 1688 Highway 8 East and upon entry they found the body of a Chickasaw County woman.

Will Porter is currently being held in the Chickasaw County Jail awaiting trial.

On April 15, Houston Police responded to a welfare check at 206 Aberdeen Road and found Ray “Shorty” Bevills had been stabbed sometime over the weekend.

A Mississippi Bureau of Investigation Crime Scene Unit and personnel were sent to process the scene and collected several bags of evidence.

Houston Police Chief Billy Voyles has said police had been called to Bevill’s home a couple of weeks ago to investigate the theft of prescription medicine. Voyles added it is not known if the two incidents are connected.

Voyles said the crime was probably committed by someone who knew Bevill. He did not elaborate.

Both Voyles and Harmon said they think this homicide is an isolated incident, but they did urge residents to exercise caution and always lock doors and windows.

Authorities have not speculated on a motive or said if a weapon used in the crime has been recovered.

As of May 7, no one has been charged with this homicide.

“Anytime you have the possibility of capital murder charges, you have to build a strong case,” said Voyles. “We have been very busy with this case. We have leads and suspects and are checking and double checking everything. We are just asking the community to be patient.”